New Canadian passport valid for longer, but has fewer pages

Canada’s new passports will be valid for up to 10 years, and include an electronic chip, but they will have fewer pages, which means for frequent fliers, the passport will have to be replaced more often.

The new so-called e-Passport will have 36 pages. Right now the passport has 48.

Postmedia News journalist Matthew Fisher got stunned reaction from a group of Canadians at a Thai-Canada Chamber of Commerce meeting in Thailand. “Typical bureaucratic myopia,” Fisher quotes one Canadian who does consulting for the UN from Bangkok.

Passport Canada which issues the passports says that as of July 1, 2013, all new Canadian passports issued will be 36-page electronic passports, or ePassports. “At that time, applicants age 16 and older will have the option of applying for a passport with 5- or 10-year validity for both first-time applications and renewals, while children’s ePassports will be issued for a maximum of 5 years.”

Among its frequently asked questions and answers, Passport Canada includes:

“Can I add more pages to my passport? – It is not possible to add pages to Canadian passports. An applicant who has a valid passport in which the visa pages have become filled with visas or entry-exit stamps must apply for a new passport.”

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14 comments on “New Canadian passport valid for longer, but has fewer pages”

It’s true that we need more pages in the passport, at least 48. I am travelling every month. And lots of Canadians out there. The passport gets filled with Visa and Entry-Exit stamps. It’s really difficult as I need to renew it every three year!!

It used to be possible to add pages to the Canadian passport. Why has this option ended?

With the reduction in the maximum page count to 36, this means that large numbers of Canadians who travel frequently to countries that require visas for their work will have to have their passports replaced before expiry. This can be a huge inconvenience – passport holders who work in a countries where there are no Canadian embassy or consulate may have to make a special trip to get a new passport if their current one is filled up with visas.

I have a friend who works for international aid agencies and travels all the time. A few years ago she had almost filled up a 48-page passport with visas, and was able to get more pages added without having to get a new passport.

Hello just wondering about this passport if my pages are filled I have to apply for a NEW passport or apply to RENEW another passport? Thanks below was a quote from this article

“Can I add more pages to my passport? – It is not possible to add pages to Canadian passports. An applicant who has a valid passport in which the visa pages have become filled with visas or entry-exit stamps must apply for a new passport.”

I strongly disagreed with anyone of your commends; the new passport makes great business sense because all of you have to replace the passport more often so the department will make more money; as the longer period of time, whether you can use it up is other matter but at least it sounds great:10 years. The department isn’t part of the government, it just works on behave of the government, so it has to make a profit to be in business.

1) First of all,Why e-Chip is integrated in covers ,when it has to be integrated in one of pages (like for example Russian one) ? Covers can be wet,folded by Immigration staffs and so on ! Very stupid!
2) But much more stupid things are Dates , I mean date of birth,date of issue and date of expiry. Take a look they have just last two digits…for example If you were born 1989 there will be only 89. It looks like you were born during Roman Empire time! Are you agree : 1989 and 89 It’s completely different dates ! The same dates of issue and expiry just last two digits,either !So,for example if your passport was issued in 2013 and expire in 2023 ,there will be 13 and 23 !!!! There is question what does it mean : 13 and 23 when was it originally issued in 1913 or 2013.With expiry more questions : 23 when is it gonna be expired in 2013 or 2113 (may be passport for 100 years) ??? And,nowhere in passport is mentioned that passport for 10 years.

3) The pages is only 36 but in reality 29 !!!!! (pages for visa).

Sorry,guys but this passport looks for me as fake ! If I was Immigration officer of other country,I wouldn’t allow to enter or cross border with this “passport” !

Actually,It’s possible to expect from countries who have issue or conflict with Canada – that’s good reason to make trouble for common Canadian “passport” bearers !

For frequent travelers this is absolutely ridiculous. Many countries require a full page for an entry visa and fully page for an exit visa. For people who work overseas, this could mean easily going through a passport in a year, not to mention a cost of over $10 per entry/exit and the costs to travel to an embassy or consulate for the renewal.

Have you ever any doubts that those imbeciles with the canadian government are hopeless morons? If passport with 5 year validity had 48 pages why the hell on earth did they decide to put 36 pages for 10 years? I loathe these self entitled idiots.